[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 66 (Thursday, April 20, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E340]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              INTRODUCTION OF THE AANAPISI OPPORTUNITY ACT

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                  HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN

                    of the northern mariana islands

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 20, 2023

  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the AANAPISI 
Opportunity Act. This legislation seeks to ensure that the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture provides research and career opportunities to 
students at all Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) by creating grant 
programs for the only MSI without any USDA support: Asian American 
Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs).
  The AANAPISI Opportunity Act is modeled after several already 
existing competitive grant programs for MSIs in USDA. Specifically, the 
bill establishes grants to support Asian American and Pacific Islander 
(AAPI)-centered agricultural research and scholarships to support 
agricultural education and career development. Additional funding will 
be given to AANAPISI students through a 50 percent institutional 
matching requirement. For low-resourced AANAPISIs who might not be able 
to match, like Northern Marianas College in my district, USDA may 
provide a waiver to help keep them in consideration for grant awards.
  In addition to enhancing the potential of American agriculture, this 
bill will have generational impact by investing in the AAPI 
agricultural pipeline. USDA's 2017 Census of Agriculture identified 
25,310 Asian producers in the United States, most of whom were younger 
and more likely to have recently started farming than U.S. producers 
overall.
  Although 25.310 accounts for only 0.7 percent of the country's 
farmers and 2 percent of total U.S. agricultural sales, this bill would 
bolster the number of skilled AAPIs that contribute to our nation's 
agricultural workforce and output. A 2019 Journal of Research in 
Technical Careers article found that the highest-rated student 
retention strategies for underrepresented students pursuing 
agricultural careers were ``academic support [and] giving students 
practical work experiences in their intended major.''
  U.S. agricultural priorities can only be met when all producers are 
given opportunities to compete and succeed, including Asian Americans 
and Pacific Islanders. Now it is time for Congress to fully commit to 
investing equitably in one of the nation's most indispensable 
industries.
  I thank my colleagues who joined me in introducing this important, 
bipartisan legislation--Mr. Case, Ms Chu, Mr. Moylan, Ms. Radewagen, 
and Ms. Tokuda.

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